Flyers avoiding shootouts

Frank Seravalli, Daily News Staff Writer

Posted:
Wednesday, February 22, 2012, 12:54 PM

WINNIPEG, Manitoba -- The Flyers may have found a way to solve their shootout problems: by avoiding it totally.

When the puck dropped on overtime in the MTS Centre on Tuesday night, the Flyers’ lineup was not out of the ordinary. Claude Giroux, James van Riemsdyk, Pavel Kubina and Matt Carle were on the ice in the traditional two forwards and two defensemen, 4-on-4 setup.

That changed after about 54 seconds, when the Flyers went with 3 forwards and 1 defenseman, in order to try and pressure for a goal. They flip-flopped shift-by-shift with their setup.

When Jaromir Jagr scored with 43.4 seconds to go in OT, which garnered him a new NHL record with 16 career overtime goals, he did it with other forwards Danny Briere and Jakub Voracek joining him on the ice with Andrej Meszaros.

Was the goal to avoid the shootout? As has been well documented, the Flyers are 20-39 all-time in shootouts, by far the NHL’s worst record since 2005.

“That’s why we put 3 forwards on the ice,” Jagr said with a smile. “Not too many teams [do that].

“If that doesn’t work, we’ll put 4 forwards out there.”

15 SOLID TANDEMS: Former NHL goaltender and friend of the Daily News, Kevin Weekes, ranked the Top 15 teams who are solid in net heading into the playoffs.

Not surprisingly, the Flyers weren’t on the list of teams.

New York, Boston, St. Louis, Vancouver and Los Angeles rounded out the Top 5. You can read Weekes’ full list on CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada web site.

Jets goaltender Ondrej Pavelec, on that list, was nominated for Save of the Year by NHL.com for his stop on Jakub Voracek on Tuesday night. Video of that is here.

9.7 SECONDS FROM FIRST: For much of the last half of the third period on Tuesday night, the Jets appeared destined to jump all the way from 9th place in the Eastern Conference to 3rd place with the help of the Southeast division lead.

WATCH OUT! As broadcasters are quickly learning, adding color commentary from between the benches can be hazardous to your health - and your wardrobe. On Dec. 23, Flyers color guy Steve Coates was grazed by Matt Read’s flying skate at Madison Square Garden.

In Winnipeg on Tuesday night, TSN Jets commentator Mike Johnson - standing next to Coates between the two benches - found out the hard way. He took an inadvertent slash to the wrist from Claude Giroux, which wound up cutting the band of his expensive-looking watch. Johnson played 11 years in the league.

You can watch Johnson’s reaction for yourself below.

Props to our friends at Puck Daddy for that “Watch Out” headline. Brilliant.